That exact phrase was once said to me.
Incredible, right?!
Even the most religiously disinterested person I know would likely feel uncomfortable being in the room with a person making that statement.
“God—mistake—what?!”
Just incredible.
Doing the work I do, business to business sales near the political realm, I’ve met untold thousands of people over my years. I can clearly recall this one and only, particular client who uttered that outrageous phrase. I called on him about 11 years ago.
An Amish man.
I know the Amish to generally be a quiet natured, faithful people. Mostly they have a rigid, literal, expression of faith, yet it’s a deep, sincere faith in the God of the Bible. When I visited with this particular middle America man, President Obama had been newly elected and the Amish man was devastated. We talked about the direction of the country, which seemed hopeless to him, and in his ranting he said “Obviously, God made a mistake!”
The image of that man proclaiming that to me surfaced in my memory recently as I’ve heard friends express the same sentiment, just without saying those exact words, as it relates to the current political climate in the U.S. Elections have a way of stirring folks up. Lately, and repeatedly, I've heard the ring of these “fallible God” comments specifically in reference to President Trump. The thing is, it’s usually not my left leaning, liberal friends who are making the comments. Rather, it’s flowing from people I would consider to be generally conservative, though piously self-described as “never-Trumpers”; they honestly believe that God must’ve made a mistake letting Donald Trump win the presidency. Of course, they’ll never admit it to being that plain. Instead, they dress it up in political double talk and social media pontificating.
In life, we all face pain and suffering, confusions and curiosities. Regardless of your belief structure, pain and such are universal.
Also, though many may choose not to admit to it, there is the unseen hand of Sovereignty and Eternity, simply the hand of God.
But then, inevitably, comes the whole “mankind’s free-will” discussion and that’s where the mental wheels fall off for many folks. The dialogue from a scene in "The Matrix" comes to mind where Neo knocks over a vase that the Oracle preemptively told Neo not to worry about. Neo still apologizes, the Oracle again says not to worry about it and adds “what’s really going to bake your noodle later on is ‘would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything?’”
To say you believe in God naturally leads to this next core belief question: Is God sovereign?
Meaning, is He in full control of the Universe or not?
I believe He is, as both Creator and Sustainer.
He was before Time, is now and will yet always be. Eternal.
“Yeah, but Joal, I can’t go with you on all that. I’m good with God-is-love-and-all, I just don’t see how it’s possible to say that God is in control. Can’t you see what’s going on in the world, especially in politics?”
Yes, of course, I can.
Can you understand there are things you can’t see (and be okay with that)?
Back to Sovereignty...To believe that God is Sovereign allows you to believe that men and women can make choices. They’re mutually verifying, not mutually exclusive. God is not insecure. He does not need you or me to believe in Him or choose His way to justify His existence. He exists and moves whether you and I acknowledge Him or not.
He’s God; I’m not; you’re not.
Instead, it is His kindness, grace, and, yes, love that are drawing men and women, you in fact, to Him. But once you reckon with that fact, the fact that He is who He says He is, then His sovereignty and control over the affairs of men become a reality in your life. You don’t truly believe IN God unless you believe that He IS God. All the way, all the time.
Now we arrive at the point of this piece: the Donald J Trump era of human history and the “never-Trumpers” who are aghast at his presidency. Needless to say, there’s definite, overt, vitriolic hatred for him from his opponents. The Left, especially the most progressive elements, are spending every moment looking to remove him by any means necessary. It’s turned almost farcical.
Yet again, I’m not confounded by the liberal position; they’re sworn, political enemies. It’s the conservative “never-Trumpers” who claim an undefinable, higher, moral ground saying “there’s no way Trump should be President because (fill in the blank).” As soon as that impulse is voiced (or, more accurately, typed, since they mostly only rant on social media, never in real face-to-face conversations) the air is fogged with the odor of “obviously, God made a mistake”.
There was no mistake.
Trump won.
Now, back to baking your noodle: did God CAUSE that?
Did God ALLOW that?
Yes.
Back to THE God question.
Is God sovereign or not?
That’s the wrestle.
But it’s not new or unique. For many on the political Right, the same wrestle twisted them with the last occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Did God CAUSE President Obama to win?
Did God ALLOW him to win?
Yes.
It’s the same sovereignty of God-reckoning.
The Left will exhaust themselves trying to defeat President Trump, which is expected.
To the more Right leaning folks bent on declaring their moral superiority to all the Trump supporters (or, at least, the anti-Biden-ers), it might be time to check in with your pastor or priest and the Holy Scriptures to figure out if God is truly in control or not.
Is God God?
Again, whether you want to believe it or not, does not change God. He’s not dependent on your okay-ness with His handling of human history, including the uber-microcosm that is American politics of the 21st century. God was clearly on the throne of Heaven during President Obama’s term and He’s still on His throne during Donald Trump's season.
